Only 64.8 per cent of India's population is literate and Uttar Pradesh continues to be the most populous state followed by Maharashtra, according the 2001 Census.
According to the details of the census released on Saturday, the country's male literacy rate is 75.3 per cent and female literacy rate 53.7 per cent.
Registrar General of India J K Banthia, who released the details at a seminar on Census Data Dissemination in New Delhi on Saturday, said Uttar Pradesh's 166 million people are more than the estimated population of Pakistan.
Lakshadweep has the lowest population of 61,000.
India added about 182 million people between 1991 and 2001, which is more than the estimated population of Brazil,
the fifth most populous country in the world, he said.
Observing that the data indicated prevalence of female foeticide, he said the child sex ratio at the national level
slipped from 945 (females per 1000 males) in 1991 to 927 in 2001 census.
© 2024 Rediff.com -